《电子信息类专业英语》课件-第8章

Unit8ComputerBasics科技英语中倍数增减的翻译

Wecandefineacomputerasadevicethatacceptsinput,processesdata,storesdata,andproducesoutput.Accordingtothemodeofprocessing,computersareeitheranalogordigital.Theycanbeclassifiedasmainframes,minicomputers,workstations,ormicrocomputers.Allelse(forexample,theageofthemachine)beingequal,thiscategorizationprovidessomeindicationofthecomputer’sspeed,size,cost,andabilities.

Computerarchitecture,incomputerscience,isageneraltermreferringtothestructureofallorpartofacomputersystem.Thetermalsocoversthedesignofsystemsoftware,suchastheoperatingsystem(theprogramthatcontrolsthecomputer),aswellasreferringtothecombinationofhardwareandbasicsoftwarethatlinksthemachinesonacomputernetwork.Thus,computerarchitecturecoverscomputersystems,microprocessors,circuits,andsystemprograms.

Therearefivemajorelementsthatmakeupthesystem’shardware:thearithmetic/logicunit,controlunit,memory,input,andoutput.Thearithmetic/logicunitperformsarithmeticandcomparesnumericalvalues.Thecontrolunitdirectstheoperationofthecomputerbytakingtheuserinstructionsandtransformingthemintoelectricalsignalsthatthecomputer’scircuitrycanunderstand.Thecombinationofthearithmetic/logicunitandthecontrolunitiscalledthecentralprocessingunit(CPU).Thememorystoresinstructionsanddata.Theinputandoutputsectionsallowthecomputertoreceiveandsenddata,respectively.

Inadditiontothehardwaredesign,thearchitectsmustconsiderwhatsoftwareprogramswilloperatethesystem.Software,suchasprogramminglanguagesandoperatingsystems,makesthedetailsofthehardwarearchitectureinvisibletotheuser.

Operatingsystemsformicro,mini,andmainframecomputersperformmanyservices.Theseservicescanbeclassifiedeitheras“external”or“internal.”Theoperatingsystemprovidesexternalservicesthathelpusersstartprograms,managestoreddata,andmaintainsecurity.Theoperatingsystemalsoprovidesinternalservices“behindthescenes”toensurethatthecomputersystemfunctionsefficiently.Theoperatingsystemcontrolsinputandoutput,allocatessystemresources,managesthestoragespaceforprogramsanddata,anddetectsequipmentfailurewithoutanydirectionfromyou.

Aprogramminglanguageisalanguageusedtowriteinstructionsforthecomputer.Itletstheprogrammerexpressdataprocessinginasymbolicmannerwithoutregardtomachine-specificdetails.Asprogramminglanguagesbecamemorepowerfulandabstract,buildingefficientcompilersthatcreatehigh-qualitycodeintermsofexecutionspeedandstorageconsumptionbecameaninterestingcomputerscienceprobleminitself.Acompiler,incomputerscience,isacomputerprogramthattranslatessourcecodeintoobjectcode.

科技英语中倍数增减的翻译

英语表示倍数增减的句型多种多样，英汉在表述或对比倍数方面存在着语言与思维差异，很容易译错。现将常用的英语倍数句型及其译法归纳如下：

1.倍数增加的译法

基本句型

1： Aisntimesasgreat(long,much,…)asB.

A的大小(长度,数量,……)是B的n倍。

Aisntimesgreater(longer，more，…)thanB.

A比B大(长，多，……)n-1倍。

例如：

Thiswireisthreetimesaslongasthatone.(Or:Thiswireistwicelongerthanthatone.)

这段导线的长度是那段的3倍(即长两倍)。

基本句型2：

increasetontimes

increasentimes／n-fold

increasebyntimes

increasebyafactorofn

增加到n倍(或增加了n-1倍)。

例如：

(1)Theproductionofintegratedcircuitshasbeenincreasedtothreetimesascomparedwithlastyear.

集成电路的产量比去年增加了两倍。

(2)Theoutputofelementshasbeenraisedfivetimesasagainst2006.

元件的产量比2006年增加了4倍。

(3)Thedrainvoltagehasbeenincreasedbyafactoroffour.

漏电压增加了3倍(即增加到原来的4倍)。

注：在这类句型中increase常被raise、grow、go等词所替代。

2.倍数减少的译法

基本句型

1： aisntimesassmall(light，slow，…)asb.

a的大小(重量，速度，……)是b的1/n。

aisntimessmaller(lighter，slower，…)thanb.

a比b小(轻，慢，……)(n-1)/n。

例如：

Thehydrogenatomisnearly16timesaslightastheoxygenatom.

氢原子的重量约为氧原子的1/16(即比氧原子约轻15/16)。

基本句型2： 

decreasentimes

n-folddecreasebyntimes

decreasebyafactorofn

减少到1/n[或：减少(n-1)/n]

这里的decrease常被reduce、shorten、go/slowdown等词替代。

例如：

(1) Switchingtimeofthenew-typetransistorisshortened3times.

新型晶体管的开关时间缩短了1/3(即缩短到2/3)。